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Environmental Mathematics & Our Community Role Ben Fusaro - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Environmental Mathematics & Our Community Role Ben Fusaro - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
JMM 2010 San Francisco, CA MAA CPS -- Quantitative Reasoning & the Environment Organizers -- Karen Bolinger, Maura Mast, Cinnamon Hillyard Environmental Mathematics & Our Community Role Ben Fusaro Florida State University
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Who, or what, is the community; how do we make contact? What mathematics & science are most useful? What kind of resistance is to be expected?
National organizations such as Audubon. HS math, intro. college math (including statistics). Members or heads of city/county commissioners. Save Our Trees, Friends of the Nanticoke River, etc. Analytical Metaphorical, Qualitative, Visual. Developers, their lawyers and other “hired guns” Authors of pro-environ. articles or letters in newspapers. Local plants, animals, habitat; some chemistry, physics.
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Who: Legislature regulating cypress cutting & shredding . Challenge: Slow the destruction of cypress trees & domes. Proposed solution: Provide Sierra lobbyist Susie C. with information to prevent cutting trees =< 30’’ in diameter and “only” 100 acres.
- Environ. Math. to the rescue …
A 30’’ DBH cypress tree has C = 30xΠ = 94 inches.
Cypress Trees (Metaphor, visual)
“Tell Sen. Paula Dockery (R) that she can’t get her arms around a 30” DBH tree, a stretch of almost eight feet.”
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Who: The Nature Conservancy Monitoring Project. Challenge: ID bird by color & position of 14 bands. Proposed solution: Use up to seven bands, with no more than four bands per leg.
Keeping Track of Scrub Jays via Colored Leg Bands
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The Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)
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Who: The Nature Conservancy Monitoring Project. Challenge: ID bird by color & position of 14 bands. Proposed solution: Use up to seven bands, with no more than four bands per leg.
Scrub Jays and Colored Leg Bands (Physics, arithmetic)
1 ¡ 2 ¡ 3 ¡ 4 ¡ 1 ¡ 2 ¡ 3 ¡
Right
R = 14x13x12x11 L = 14x13x12 RxL = 24024x2184 = 52,468,416 combo’s
Left
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The Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)
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Who: Leon County (FL) Board of Commissioners. Challenge: Restrict spraying for mosquitoes. Proposed solution: Have citizens, health specialists, school children, etc., point out the threats to human health from toxic sprays. One environmentalist joined them.
- Environ. Math. As part of the rescue …
Spraying for Mosquitoes (Visuals)
Master of Wildlife Conservation (LC-UF), 1998 Master Wildlifer (Clemson-UF), 2003 Master Naturalist (UF-IFAS), 2009
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The Mosquito Hawk
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Photos: Google, Google, Flicker
+
pyrethrin =
+
pyrethrin =
+ pyrethrin =
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¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡Spray ¡to ¡LD50 ¡ Mosquitoes Dragonflies
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th week
40 20
800 400
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The Florida Panther
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Who: Audubon members; the general public. Challenge: Take panther-deaths seriously. Proposed solution: Build underpasses so that panthers can safely cross highways. Background: Seven Florida panthers were killed by cars in 2008, out of an estimated population of 100-120. How to put this in perspective…?
Panther Deaths (Metaphor; arithmetic)
“Would you takes steps to correct such a situation if 1.2 million Floridians were killed by cars in a year…?” “This is a smaller proportion than the number of panther deaths”
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